It's Not That Easy
by YoungRL
Summary: This scene is what I pictured happening in the 8-9:00PM episode of 24. Full summary and a bit more info inside. **Please R/R**


Disclaimer: FOX owns everything and I do not. The characters belong to solely to them. Everything that happens in this fic, though, including the dialogue and actions, belong to me (with the exception of the first paragraph).  
  
Spoilers: The following takes place between 8 PM and 9 PM on the day of the California Presidential Primary. (Like I've said in my other fics, that dialogue doesn't belong to me either.) So if you don't want to ruin anything, don't read. Duh.  
  
A note from the author: What happens in this fic is what I pictured happening right after Andre starts beating Jack in the detention facility. I wrote the outline for this fic during the commercial that came after the scene started, so I had no idea what was really going to happen.  
  
(A later note: After the 8-9 PM episode is when I really peeled my eyes and watched 24 for real. I've gotten to know the characters better and I understand them more than I did before and when I wrote this fic. I've done some editing of dialogue and actions so that everything better fits the characters.)  
  
As always, please, read and review =]  
  
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As Andre Drazen kicked him again and again, Jack lay on the floor, taking each hit without fighting back, accepting it and shrinking to a small corner of his mind. He knew he must be getting to them, and he found himself becoming satisfied with that small fact in a rather grim way. Andre kicked Jack one final time and then made a face expressing his disgust. With that he walked back off down the hallway to oversee the work his men were doing to collapse the corridor.  
  
Victor stood a few feet away, watching him closely, not about to take any sort of tricks from Jack again. Groaning, Jack rolled onto his back. A sharp spasm of pain shot through him and he drew a quick, shaking breath. That only made it worse. He must have broken a rib or two.  
  
Trembling, he wiped the sweat from his brow with one arm. The events of the day were starting to get to him-no sleep for more than a day, the fact that everything seemed to be falling apart, and not to mention how many close calls with death he and his family had faced.  
  
A pang of fear suddenly shot through him, washing over him and diluting the pain. It paralyzed him for a moment. He thought about what Victor had just said, about how Jack would 'take his share of the responsibility of the deaths in the Drazen family.'  
  
Of course, he meant that Kim and Teri would be killed. Were they safe? How were they doing? He wished he were out of this mess and just at home once again, with them watching television, or playing chess with Kim like he had been before this whole thing had started.  
  
Victor laughed softly, seeing the look of consternation that creased Jack's forehead. "It'll all be over soon, Jack." he taunted, and then laughed again. Jack gritted his teeth, willing himself not to take the bait. "All over, Jack, and then you will have to live just like I have for the past two years, knowing that you cannot have your family back, knowing that you'll never see them again." He smiled as he saw that he was getting the desired effect on Jack. He was hitting a nerve.  
  
Jack closed his eyes in an effort to hold in the rage and the fear he was feeling. His nerves were so taught and he felt so stressed at the moment that his hands shook slightly.  
  
"It's a pity." Victor said idly. "That after all you've been through today to keep them safe. In the end, you fail. Don't worry, though, if you cooperate with us, we will let them die easily."  
  
"No!" Jack yelled, lunging to his feet, and ignoring the pain that swept over him.  
  
Victor aimed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. Jack stopped short and his hand moved slowly and instinctively to his right shoulder. A small red point of blood there was growing in size and soaking into his shirt. Jack took a small, staggering step forward and Victor fired again, this time hitting Jack in his right arm.  
  
Jack drew back, hitting the wall behind him. He slid to the ground, still grasping his shoulder, while blood soaked rapidly into his shirt where the wound in his arm was.  
  
He rested his head on the wall at his back, closing his eyes and swallowing hard. Victor laughed again, loud and mocking this time.  
  
"You think I would let you die? This is not over yet, Jack. Not by far."  
  
The faces of Teri and Kim surfaced in Jack's mind and he wondered if any of them would live through this. Would they ever see each other again?  
  
"It's not that easy." Victor said, his words echoing in Jack's mind. No, none of this was easy, and nothing was certain. But one could still hope.  
  
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End file.
